Research by IT Enterprise Business Solutions reveals 61% of medical equipment delays throughout NHS are caused by global component shortages

Study based on data analysis of over 100 supplier notices from NHS Supply Chain website

LONDON, Feb. 28, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- A recent study by IT Enterprise Business Solutions, the UK's leading business software solutions provider for SMEs, has revealed that global component shortages account for over 60% of the NHS's medical equipment delays. The research also found that the number of delays peaks between 30 and 60 days at 22% before dropping significantly to just over 1% between 90 and 120 days.

The full report and its findings can be accessed at: https://it-ebs.co.uk/news/nhs-supply-chain-report/.

Conducted by a team of data analysts, the study took over a month to collate and analyse, evaluating over 100 supplier notices on NHS Supply Chain from the last two weeks of November 2022. Researchers also found that 98% of delays above 120 days were caused by increased demand.

Method

Expert data analysts were tasked with manually reviewing information from NHS Supply Chain's Important Customer Notices (ICNs) section. ICNs are advance notifications from medical equipment suppliers that warn end users of possible delays, types of products affected, and reasons for delays; estimated resolution dates are also advised. Delay duration was calculated from the date of notice to the estimated resolution date. Where no resolution date was provided, the worst-case scenario of 120 days' delay was assumed.

Key Findings

Additional key findings of the report include:

• 29% of delays caused by lack of raw materials occur within the first 30 days, then reduce to 12% between 30-90 days and 1% for 90-120 days, with 47% over 120 days.
• 53% of delays last over 120 days (or for an unknown number of days).
• Breaking down delay by equipment type reveals that 25% correspond to general healthcare products, 17% to tubing, and 9% to dressings.
• 78% of increased numbers of orthopaedic solutions with 17% of anaesthetic face masks. Delays of most items seem to happen in the 30-to-60-day mark with general supply and global components being the major causes.
• Delays decline substantially between 60-90 days and are insignificant after that, but the number of unknowns also shows how difficult it is to manage supply issues due to the number of unforeseen variables.

Find out more about IT Enterprise Business Solutions at https://it-ebs.co.uk.

Media contact: 
Malcolm Ford 
+44 (0)203 917 0103 
helpdesk@it-ebs.co.uk

Photo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2011496/medical_infographic.jpg
Photo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2011497/Emergency_ward.jpg